Gamesgate Sheila mum on CVC report
New Delhi, July 30
With allegations of corruption flying thick and fast over CWG works after a damning Chief Vigilance Commission report, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today refused to comment, claiming she did not have the copy of the report.

Hospitals not Games-ready yet
New Delhi, July 30
Many city hospitals, upgrading to meet the Commonwealth Games targets, are running behind schedule and sources said even tenders for the purchase of medical equipment and medicines are yet to be awarded by the authorities.

DU does all to make the disabled comfortable
New Delhi, July 30
Delhi University (DU) is going all out to attract disabled students by offering an array of facilities to make their stay more comfortable on campus.
The facilities on offer range from special buses, specially-equipped toilets, ramps, elevators, parking slots, scanners for converting books into audio format and special computers suited for the disabled.

‘Tobacco cessation’ in curricula
fails to take off
New Delhi, July 30
In view of the low awareness on tobacco cessation among the healthcare providers, including the medical students, doctors and healthcare workers, attempts on introducing the subject in medical curricula are still a long way to go.

Serial Blasts
Police told to give phone details of IM ultras
New Delhi, July 30
A Delhi court today asked the Delhi police to furnish copy of call detail records (CDR) of the mobile phones of two suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) militants, accused of the September 13, 2008 Selhi serial blasts.

Belt removed from boy’s body after 4 years
New Delhi, July 30
A leather belt crawled its way through the abdomen of a 22-year-old accident victim to his chest and almost took his life before baffled doctors detected and removed it.
Doctors of the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital removed an eight-inch-long section of Anuj Ranjan's belt and said "such a case is quite unheard of in the medical history".
The belt apparently entered Ranjan's body at the time of an accident.

Cops move SC for removal of bus speed governors
New Delhi, July 30
The Delhi police has moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to remove speed governors from buses that will be used for ferrying athletes and other officials during the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Neeraj Kumar, special commissioner (administration) today said that an application had been moved in the apex court in this regard and they hoped that it would be allowed.

Illegal mineral water unit unearthed in Noida
Noida, July 30
The 20-litre bottle of mineral water that you buy could be unhygienic and ordinary tap water. This was revealed when the district food department raided an illegal mineral water unit being run from Gijhode village here.

Police personnel at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on Friday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Bikers start for the Himalayan Exploration Odyssey from the India Gate in New Delhi on Friday. Tribune photo

20 hurt in school bus accident
Noida, July 30
Twenty students of Panchasheel Balak Inter College here were injured today when a truck dashed into their bus on the Noida Expressway.
Till late evening today, four injured students were still at hospital, while the rest were discharged after first aid.

Maha Maya varsity on paper only
Noida, July 30
Students are confused over Maha Maya Technical University (MMTU) as till today the university is only on paper. As per the state government notification, western UP colleges are under MMTU.

9 kids fall ill after taking
midday meal
New Delhi, July 30
Nine students of a municipal primary school in a south Delhi area were rushed to a nursing home, as they fell sick after consuming the mid-day meal today. However, they were discharged later.

2 held for killing 4 in a day
New Delhi, July 30
Two youths, who allegedly killed four persons in a day in the Bahadurgarh area of Haryana, have been arrested by the crime branch of the Delhi police in the Capital.
According to the police, the accused have been identified as Manjit Deswal (26) and Manish (22). They were apprehended from their hideout in Sultanpuri recently.

New Delhi, July 30
With allegations of corruption flying thick and fast over CWG works after a damning Chief Vigilance Commission report, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today refused to comment, claiming she did not have the copy of the report.

The CVC has put the report on its website while the Delhi BJP called for a CBI probe into the suspected scandal.

Dikshit said she would look into the matter after going through the facts.

She said the games would be organized successfully even the Prime Minister has expressed confidence in the Delhi government. "There is no need to panic. All the projects will be completed within the given time," she said.

The Chief Minister said that debris would be removed from all the places by August 10. So far, 16,000 tons of waste material has been removed. By August 30-31, all the stadiums, flyovers and beautification work will be completed. Only final touches will be given in September.

She said that the government has strived to upgrade the city infrastructure. Twenty-four major flyovers, three stadiums, widening of 1,070-km lane, 31 footover bridges, modernisation of 450 kms of streetlighting, 150 kms of streetscaping, power plant (Bawana), sewage treatment plant, water treatment plant and parking facility for more than 1,000 buses are either complete or will be completed before the Games.

All the projects will go a long way to improve city’s infrastructure. All the agencies are working tirelessly to complete the projects, she added.

Dikshit said when so many mega projects are being carried out simultaneously, it is but natural that the city is wearing an unkempt appearance.

On the other hand, leader of opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Vijay Kumar Malhotra demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged financial bungle in the CWG projects. The CVG has already highlighted many irregularities in its report. It has mentioned the poor quality of material used in construction. What's more, forged records of testing were prepared, Malhotra said.

He said that hardly 64 days are left for the Games, but the current situation belies 'all is well' statements of the Union sports minister and the Chief Minister. Prestige of the country will suffer if the event is not held properly.

New Delhi, July 30
Many city hospitals, upgrading to meet the Commonwealth Games targets, are running behind schedule and sources said even tenders for the purchase of medical equipment and medicines are yet to be awarded by the authorities.

The wireless sets based on tetra technology, which as per Delhi Directorate Health Services should have been in use by July-end, are yet to reach the government hands, official sources said.

The GB Pant Super-Speciality Hospital, designated as a definitive care centre, is yet to install a 16-slice CT scan machine and while at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, the civil work of the 36-bedded emergency ward has finished, the essential equipment is yet to be procured.

The work on polyclinic, which would be a 25x40 meter makeshift structure at the Games Village with 10 beds and manned with doctors from almost all specialities, is yet to begin in right earnest.

"During a review visit two days back, health minister Kiran Walia was unhappy with the progress of the work and asked the Delhi Development Authority officials to finish the work by August 15, following which the medical set-ups would be put in place," said an executive engineer of the DDA on condition of anonymity.

Among the four designated hospitals, the Delhi government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital is ready with its modified set-up--three modular operation theatres, six ICU beds and 20 private beds as standby. Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital--with 20-bedded ward and 10 ICU beds--has managed to receive a satisfactory nod from the CWG Federation. The work at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (AIIMS) and Safdarjung's Sports Injury Centre is 70 per cent complete.

However, officials of the hospitals concerned, Delhi government and the CWG Organising Committee have unanimously maintained that the work would be completed by the new deadline.

Besides the four designated hospitals, responsible for providing medication right from resuscitation to rehabilitation, other 30 Delhi government hospitals would be considered during exigencies.

New Delhi, July 30
Delhi University (DU) is going all out to attract disabled students by offering an array of facilities to make their stay more comfortable on campus.
The facilities on offer range from special buses, specially-equipped toilets, ramps, elevators, parking slots, scanners for converting books into audio format and special computers suited for the disabled.

However, the response from disabled students has been less then expected. Only 400 students have turned up for the 1,600 seats on offer for the disabled.

Gurpreet Tuteja, deputy dean, students' welfare, said, "DU has done a lot this year to make disabled students comfortable on campus. Many colleges have made their buildings disabled-friendly. We have a special bus service for them. Besides, ramps and elevators have been built and specially-equipped toilets have been installed to cater to the disabled. The university has been going all out to make the disabled comfortable."

One college that has done a lot in this area is SGTB Khalsa. The college principal Jaswinder Singh said, "We have made the campus completely disabled-friendly. Ramps have been put up and a special toilet has been installed for the disabled. Lifts have been put up in science department. We are going to install lifts in arts and commerce departments as well. The college has special computers for the disabled. We have tried to make the college as welcoming as possible for the disabled. However, we need better response from them as their numbers are low."

Another college that has done a commendable job is St Stephen's. Sanjeev Grewal, co-ordinator of the enabling unit for the physically challenged at St Stephen's said, "A lot of amenities have been introduced over the past two years to make the physically challenged comfortable at Stephen's. Ramps have been built, special toilets are being installed, parking lots have been slotted, then a special room is being built in the library with special computers that have 'job access with speech' software, specially designed for the disabled. And there are plans to create special tactile paths for wheelchair-bound students."

Grewal added, "There are plans of putting up special signages and Braille markers for the visually impaired students. Also, we are installing special scanners for them. These scan a book, convert it to digital format and further convert it to audio format. Many other plans are also in the pipeline, the idea is to make the college as disabled-friendly as possible."

Another college that is well-equipped for the disabled is Hansraj College. Special ramps have been built, parking slots allotted, special toilets constructed and there are plans of bringing in special computers best-suited to the physically challenged. Besides, there is a plan to install lifts in different departments.

Ramjas College has many plans in the pipeline for the disabled. Currently, they are awaiting funds to begin the work. At Hindu College, work is underway to make the college disabled-friendly.

New Delhi, July 30
In view of the low awareness on tobacco cessation among the healthcare providers, including the medical students, doctors and healthcare workers, attempts on introducing the subject in medical curricula are still a long way to go.

The major hurdle, according to public health experts, is the powerful tobbaco lobby that has never let the efforts succeed.

"Politicians, especially from important tobacco constituencies, have never been keen on addressing the tobacco menace holistically as they would lose their vote banks," said former director of AIIMS, Prof Lalit M Nath, during the release of a study-"Tobacco Control and the Training of Healthcare Providers", here today.

Importantly, the constituencies (Midnapur and Sivaganga) of Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Union home minister P Chidambaram are hot-beds of tobacco production and whether the plan mooted and taken up by the health ministry about six months back would be firmed up is yet to be decided by the government.

Nevertheless, as confirmed by Dr Jagdish Kaur, in-charge of tobacco control under the central health ministry, the minsitry has developed training modules for doctors and health workers on the control of tobacco use.

According to Prof Nath, who has co-authored the study with Dr Jennifer Lobo, also a former additional professor of AIIMS, "The current medical curriculum doesn't look at the problem of tobacco the way it should. In the colleges, quitting smoking has never been adopted as a method of action in their teaching course. Also, tobacco health training has to be imparted to doctors, nurses, healthcare providers, including ASHA workers."

"As far as incorporating tobacco cessation methods in health education is concerned, work is on for including it in MBBS, BDS and the newly-proposed Bachelor of Rural Health Care. Just procedural formalities are delaying the process," Kaur told The Tribune.

Another aspect that the study points at is the significant loss incurred owing to lives lost to cancer, cardiac ailments and pulmonary diseases.

New Delhi, July 30
A Delhi court today asked the Delhi police to furnish copy of call detail records (CDR) of the mobile phones of two suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) militants, accused of the September 13, 2008 Selhi serial blasts.

Additional sessions judge Santosh Snehi Mann asked the special cell of Delhi police to hand over the CDR copy to the counsel of the accused, M S Khan by August 5.

The directions came after Khan today pointed out before the court that the police had not provided them with the CDR copy which, according to them, run into 1,072 pages.

Khan, who was to start the defence argument today, opposing the Delhi police plea to frame charges against the suspected IM men, asked the court for the CDR copy before advancing with the arguments.

The court directed public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan to provide Khan with the copy. On the next date of hearing, the prosecution will provide the defence with a hard and soft copy of the CDR.

"There had already been an order passed by the chief metropolitan magistrate in this regard on November 12 last year," added Khan.

Meanwhile, the special cell provided Mayur Suresh, counsel for accused Shakeel, a copy of the CD purported to be containing the video footage of Shakeel entering the Jhandewalan Metro station and exiting from Indraprastha after allegedly carrying out the blast in an auto-rickshaw at Karol Bagh on September 13, 2008.

The court is hearing arguments on charges to be framed against 14 accused arrested so far in the five cases registered in connection with the serial blasts here which claimed 26 lives and left 135 injured.

The Delhi police had already concluded its part of the arguments in the matter.

The defence arguments were to start today, but as the plea was raised, the proceedings could not go further. It is likely that the arguments would now start on August 5.

The proceedings were conducted through video conferencing as 11 out of 14 accused are lodged at Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad in connection with the serial blasts in that city.

New Delhi, July 30
A leather belt crawled its way through the abdomen of a 22-year-old accident victim to his chest and almost took his life before baffled doctors detected and removed it.

Doctors of the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital removed an eight-inch-long section of Anuj Ranjan's belt and said "such a case is quite unheard of in the medical history".

The belt apparently entered Ranjan's body at the time of an accident.

The nightmare for Ranjan of Jodhpur began in 2006 when in an accident, he received lacerated wounds on the left side of his abdomen that was sutured in a local hospital and he was subsequently discharged.

His family and doctors thought his problems were over, but six months later, Ranjan developed chest pain and fever. Local doctors put him on an anti-tubercular treatment which continued for at least two years, but gave him no relief. He said six months ago, he developed a swelling on the left chest and it bulged progressively and eventually burst releasing a lot of pus and air. He was admitted to a Lucknow hospital for surgery, but the surgery was abandoned after condition deteriorated.

Dr K.K. Pandey, senior consultant for thoracic and vascular surgery, who successfully operated upon Ranjan, said the infection of left lung had spread to the right side of his chest.

"I was shocked when I found an 8-inche-long piece of waist leather belt and a small piece of cotton cloth in Ranjan's chest," he said.

New Delhi, July 30
The Delhi police has moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to remove speed governors from buses that will be used for ferrying athletes and other officials during the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

Neeraj Kumar, special commissioner (administration) today said that an application had been moved in the apex court in this regard and they hoped that it would be allowed.

"The court has earlier ordered the fitting of speed governors. However, if there is a contingency, speed governors will not help us. So we are seeking the permission of the court," he said, adding that instead of low-floor buses, the police would prefer raised seats so that the passengers of the buses could be seen from outside.

The current lot of low-floor buses are tuned not to run faster than 40 km per hour and the Delhi police believes that during the Games there could be situations that would require the buses to run faster.

The officer further clarified that the athletes will not be ferried in bullet-proof buses as demanded by Pakistan.Kumar said that there was no specific threat to the Games and the Delhi police had made all security arrangements for the mega sporting event.

Asked whether the delay in handing over Games venues to the police would hamper security, he said, "Ideally, we would have felt happier if the stadia were ready and our security overlays were in place. But don't forget that 13 test events have already been conducted at various venues and despite shortfall in construction, all the events went very well and our system have been tested," he said.

Conscious of the fact that visitors could be targeted on their visit to city markets and other places outside the highly-secured Games Village and event venues, the Delhi police is also looking to secure important markets in the city. According to information, CCTV cameras have already been installed in 14 city markets and similar work is undergoing at 29 other markets.

"We are coordinating with the market associations and CCTV cameras are being installed in 29 more markets of the city. We are aware that sportsmen and other visiting dignitaries would like to shop in the city and so arrangements would be made. We would brief them about the markets they should visit," said Kumar.

In a similar exercise, a tight vigil will be kept on the entry of any vehicle in the city with cameras at all entry points of the city.

Kumar said 105 representatives from 19 countries participated in the International Security Administrators Conference of the participating nations held here in the past two days. A detailed presentation was made before the delegation and the members have expressed satisfaction over the preparations made by the Delhi police.

The officer, however, warned that commuters could face traffic problems during the Games.

"There could be inconvenience to the commuters during the Games, but we are making efforts to lessen traffic on the roads during the time. The schools and courts will remain closed during the Games and we are even requesting markets association to open markets on rotation," said Kumar while appealing people to use Metro during the 12-day event.

Noida, July 30
The 20-litre bottle of mineral water that you buy could be unhygienic and ordinary tap water. This was revealed when the district food department raided an illegal mineral water unit being run from Gijhode village here.

The chief food inspector, A. K. Jaiswal, said, "We were getting complaints of illegal mineral water units. On a tip-off, we raided the unit. One worker named Imran Khan was arrested from the site. He was filling tap water in 20-litre bottles and putting labels of Bisleri and other popular mineral water brands on it. The unit was running without a licence. A small treatment plant was also installed at the unit. Khan said when the demand exceeded the amount of water that could be processed in the plant, they used to fill tap waters in bottles bearing labels of mineral water brands."

"The unit was sealed last evening and an FIR has been lodged today against the plant owner, Sushil Yadav, at the Sector 24 police station. Till late evening today, Yadav was absconding," said Jaiswal.

Noida, July 30
Twenty students of Panchasheel Balak Inter College here were injured today when a truck dashed into their bus on the Noida Expressway.
Till late evening today, four injured students were still at hospital, while the rest were discharged after first aid.

The incident took place around 7.45 am near Sector 92. The bus was bringing children to school when the mishap took place just a kilometer away from the school premises. There were around 35 students in the bus at the time of the accident.

After the collision, the truck driver fled the site. The back side of the bus was ripped apart due to the impact of the collision.

Hearing the news of the accident, the family of the students rushed to the hospital. The school management too reached the hospital and provided help to the victims.

The four injured who are still at the Kailash Hospital are: Harshit (9), Vijay Pal Singh (10), Nakul Verma (8) and Mohit Awana (13).

Noida, July 30
Students are confused over Maha Maya Technical University (MMTU) as till today the university is only on paper. As per the state government notification, western UP colleges are under MMTU.

General secretary of UP Technical Institution Federation, Atul Kumar Jain said, "Today we have written to the state government to make MMTU functional soon to end confusion."

The Uttar Pradesh Directorate of Technical Education had bifurcated Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) into Gautam Buddha Technical University (GBTU) and Maha Maya Technical University (MMTU) with effect from May 1. Session from July was to be held separately by these universities.

"Though UPTU Noida campus was to be converted into Maha Maya Technical University, the new university has not started functioning till today. GBTU is still handling the admission process," Kripa Shanker, vice-chancellor, GBTU said.

New Delhi, July 30
Nine students of a municipal primary school in a south Delhi area were rushed to a nursing home, as they fell sick after consuming the mid-day meal today. However, they were discharged later.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sent the sample of the food for testing.

The students were from an MCD school in Madanpur Khadar Phase-II. Officials said the school had 1,254 students. As many as 911 students were present today.

What has surprised the officials is that the mid-day meal is sent to the school by ISCKON, a religious organisation, and it enjoys a good reputation for its food. The food samples have been sent to the Sri Ram Institute for Industrial Research for
testing.

New Delhi, July 30
Two youths, who allegedly killed four persons in a day in the Bahadurgarh area of Haryana, have been arrested by the crime branch of the Delhi police in the Capital.
According to the police, the accused have been identified as Manjit Deswal (26) and Manish (22). They were apprehended from their hideout in Sultanpuri recently.

"They were arrested as part of our drive against criminals of neighbouring states who are expected to become active during the Commonwealth Games," said additional commissioner of police (crime) Neeraj Thakur.

According to him, on May 21, 2009, the duo allegedly kidnapped and killed one person in morning and then later in the evening, killed three more persons at a bus stand in
Bahadurgarh.